Knits About Winter

Pom Pom

Knits About Winter

Knits About Winter celebrates the quiet magic of a snowy landscape, the meditative joy of creating cosy knits, and the beauty of unique yarn. A collection of 12 knitting patterns by Emily Foden, these designs capture the magic and mystery of winter, all featuring her distinctive hand-dyed yarns.

Emily moved to the small hamlet of Mooresburg, Canada, to set up her home and dye studio in a 100 year-old general store. In her remote location, winter meant layers of snow and ice, transforming the wild landscape into a sparkling blank canvas that became a valuable source of inspiration. Each pattern draws details from this wintry landscape: soft shapes in the snow, the moon in an icy midnight sky, the delicate evergreen berries. With careful consideration of practical design details that make these knits functional for the coldest of days, Knits About Winter features hats, mittens, socks, shawls, and four garments.

Also included are Emily’s charming stories of setting up her dye studio, as well as how she developed her colourways and the designs for the book. Photographed by the author during a snowy Mooresburg winter, each image is a peek into the sceney and spaces that were integral to the book.

Knits About Winter is a book to treasure, and in the colder months will encourage you find the beauty and colour in the darkest season, evoking the warm glow that only beautiful knits can.

Printed in the UK // 136 pages // Soft cover

Related products

This series follows the journey of two friends from opposite sides of the world combining their love of their countries (Argentina and Finland) and beautiful knitwear. Volume 1 marked the beginning of an entirely new approach to designing, and their dream project has evolved to bring your their 6th volume.

A hap is a Scottish dialect word for a simple shawl or wrap. Haps have a particular association with the Shetland islands where, for more than a century, they were knitted for everyday wear as well as for sale. Combining textile history with contemporary design, this book explores the story of the hap through five beautifully illustrated essays, and thirteen stunning patterns. While the first part of the book looks to the past for inspiration, exploring the many different contexts in which haps were made and worn, the book’s second half acts as a springboard to the future, as designers from around the world present their own interpretations of the hap. From Nevada and Finland to Reykjavik, and Burra Isle, the patterns in these pages are as distinctive and varied as their designers’ locales. Haps may well surprise you: they can be square, triangular, or hexagonal, incorporating lace, cables, or colour. Though haps are, by definition, functional, wearable textiles, you’ll find they can also be elegant and fascinating, graphic and abstract. Whatever your knitterly interests, you’ll find theBook of Haps an endless source of inspiration and a canvas for your creativity.

In this stunning new collection with her own Buachaille yarn, Kate takes inspiration from Islay’s landscape to create twelve new designs. From modern haps to traditional kilt hose; from Fairisle hoodies to cabled cardigans; from a yoke pullover to a colourful modular blanket, the designs are arranged in four “stories” each of which explores a different island locale. With their roots in Islay’s distinctive history and culture, Kate’s designs suggest the rich breadth and depth of inspiration the island affords, from the archaeological legacy of the Lords of the Isles to the poetry and song of the Islay bards. In addition to Kate’s patterns, this book brings together beautiful photography of Islay by Tom Barr with essays by four contributors who share their varied local expertise. Gordon Yates introduces Islay’s wildlife, Anna MacQuarrie explores the important legacy of Gaelic in the island landscape, Jane Hunter explores Islay’s geology through the intriguing medium of tweed and stitches, while Susan Campbell tells us more about the island’s handcrafts. Open the pages of this beautiful book, join Kate on a journey to the Hebrides, and you too will be Inspired by Islay.

From writer and designer, Kate Davies, comes a book that brings the creative process of hand-knit design to life in an exciting new way. In Colours of Shetland, Kate takes you on a northern journey, exploring wild and beautiful island landscapes through words, projects and pictures. Situated in the rich context of the Shetland places, wildlife, objects and people that have inspired Kate, each design in this book has its own engaging ‘colour story’ to tell.

Through the pages of this book, you will get a taste of the heritage that makes Shetland one of the world’s most knitterly destinations, and be inspired to knit with yarn that has a genuine connection to the landscape in which it is produced. Showcasing Jamieson and Smith Jumper Weight, the flagship Shetland yarn with a marvellously varied palette, each project features the clear instructions and attention to detail that are hallmarks of Kate’s designs.

Alongside ten original patterns that are a joy to make and wear, Colours of Shetland offers the hand-knitter food for thought and a feast for the eyes